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224 



THE CRAYON" 



are like skirmishers around a rooky fortress, 
now and then firing at its solid walls an 
occasional musket shot, or approaching 
them with drums beating and banners flying, 
buc with none of the desperate determina- 
tion of real war. 

Certainly our Rajah was not the man to 
scale the walls, nor was his poetry that of 
Tyrtoeus. Lying on the table were beauti- 
ful manuscript copies of his works, which 
he had brought out for my admiration. 
They were exquisitely written by professed 
scribes, and some of them were superbly 
and profusely illuminated. Nothing of the 
kipd that I had ever seen surpassed the 
brilliancy of color, and miniature delicacy 
of these illuminations, or the grace of the 
arabesque designs that bordered many of the 
pages, but they possessed little value as 
illustrations of life, and had no significance 
as works of. Art. Neither painting nor 
sculpture have ever risen, save in a few ex- 
ceptional iustances, to aliigher rank than 
that of purely imitative 1 " arts in the East. 
They possess no spiritual character, and 
even the architecture of India, splendid as 
it is, owes its chief splendor to exotic in- 
fluences and foreign inspiration. One or 
two of the illuminations in these manu- 
scripts were amusing specimens of native 
taste. They were pictures of celestial fe- 
male figures, with butterfly wings, and in 
full dress. But the dresses were cut after 
the absurdest of absurd English fashions, 
with leg of mutton sleeves, incredibly short 
waists, and scant skirts, while the heads of 
these angelic beings were covered witli 
brightly trimmed Leghorn bats. I looked 
to see other spirits with bell-crowned hats, 
top-boots, and spurs. 

On another table lay a copy of the poems 
of the present Emperor of Delhi, a hand- 
some folio, imperially bound in gilded soar- 
let, the gift of his majesty to his well-be- 
loved laureate. Great men in the East 
write poetry with much ease, vicariously. 
Next to this imperial volume, in curious 
juxtaposition, was a book that had a pecu- 
liarly familiar look. I took it up — it was 
lettered " Everett's Orations." It was the 
gift of the author. The Emperor of Delhi 
and the Governor of Massachusetts side by 
side ! What a fresh flavor of New England 
was in that book ! 1 opened it, and fancied I 
■was in the church at Cambridge, standing 
on Plymouth Rock, over which a palm-tree 
■was waving, and looking at Bunker Hill 
Monument, from the top of which a muez- 
zin was calling to prayers. " Do you per- 
sonally acquaint Everett, Sahib ?" asked the 
Rajah. " 1 have salaamed to him often," 
was my reply. "I pray you to regard 
this," said the poet, handing me a gold 
medal that he bad received from some so- 
ciety in Europe. His fame had extended 
over three quarters of the globe. 

At length, the lea-table was ready, and 
■we were ceremoniously conducted into an- 
other apartment, in which was a large 
table handsomely spread with plate, trans- 
parent porcelain, and profuse vases of 
flowers, whose perfume overpowered the 
freshness of the air. The feast was entire- 
ly made up ot Hindoo delicacies, dishes to 
be appreciated by those bred up in Hindoo 
tastes. It was in vain, and with fruitless 
struggles, that I endeavored to do justice 
to one rich confection after another that 
the Rajah begged to have the delight of 
seeing me eat. A single mouthful of some 



of them might have been pleasant enough, 
but, in general, they were too greasy and 
high-flavored ; and to make a meal of them 
was like making a meal of butter and 
brown sugar, mixed with " nutmegs and 
cinnamon, pepper aud cloves."* 

During the entertainment, two little 
sons of the Rajah were brought in, to behold 
the Eeringhee. They were bright-eyed, 
and inquisitive, dressed up in red em- 
broidered silks, hung over with gold orna- 
ments. The Rajah was curious about Ame- 
rica ; he would like to send one of his sons 
to see that great country, but the form of 
government puzzled him. He had heard 
of Congress, and its two bodies ; " I under- 
stand," said he, " quite same as House of 
Lords and Court of Directors." When I 
positively could taste no more, wine was 
brought, and the Rajah and his friend show- 
ed no scruple in partaking of it. 

It was very dark when I took my leave, 
and though it was late, the street, poorly 
lighted by the dull lamps that hung in the 
open shops, was still full of passengers. In 
some of the huts the evening meal was be- 
ing cooked over a blazing fire, which burn- 
ed on the mud floor, with men, women aud 
children, seated around it. The smoke 
poured out of the doorways, illuminated by 
the light within. Each interior was a pic- 
ture waiting for its painter. The night 
was warm, and on the flat roofs, and on 
the mud platforms in front of the houses, 
lay sleepers wrapped in their unfolded gar- 
ments. Everywhere dense life, till we 
reached the quiet streets about Govern- 
ment House, aud scared a jackal who had 
crept in from the jungle, and was prowling 
about with thievish intentions. 

During the remainder of my stay at Cal- 
cutta, \ saw nothing more of the royal poet 
of Delhi, Maha Rajah Apurva Krishna 
Bahadoor, whose name, literally translated, 
signifies, The Great Ruler Boundless Krish- 
na the Brave. He sent me his works and 
his portrait gorgeous in jewels, shawls and 
turban, which. I look at when I want to 
see how a poet laureate, Tennyson, for in- 
stance, ought to be dressed. 



AMERICAN ARCHITECTURE. 
(Published in a Periodical in 1843.) 

We have heard the learned in matters 
relating to Art, express the opinion that 
these United States are destined to form a 
new style of architecture. Remembering 
that a vast population, rich in material and 
guided by the experience, the precepts, and 
the models of the old world, was about to 
erect durable structures for every function 
of civilized life, we also cherished the hope 
that such a combination would speedily be 
formed. 

We forgot that though the country was 
young, yet the people were old, that as 
Americans we have no childhood, no hall- 
fabulous, legendary wealth, no misty, cloud- 
enveloped back-ground. We forgot that 
we had not unity of religious belief, nor 
unity of origin ; that our territory, extend- 
ing from the white bear to the alligator, 
made our occupations dissimilar, our cha- 
racter aud tastes various. We forgot that 



* A description of one of these dishes may serve for 
that of a class. A paste uf flour and water is strained 
through a sieve in drops into a pan of boiling ghee or oily 
butter, from which it is taken and made up, with sugar, 
almonds, raisins, and whole peppers, into balls. This is 
a much esteemed deUcacy, and is considered very nice. 



the Republic had leaped full-grown and 
armed to the teeth from the brain of her 
parent, and that a hammer had been the 
instrument of delivery. We forgot that 
reason had been the dry nurse of the giant 
offspring, and had fed her from the begin- 
ning with the stout bread and meat of 
fact; that every wry face the bantling 
ever made had been dagnerreotyped, and 
all her words and deeds printed and label- 
led away in the pigeon-holes of official bu- 
reaux. 

Reason can dissect, but cannot originate; 
she can adopt, but cannot create ; she can 
modify, but cannot find. Give her but a 
cockboat, and she will elaborate a line of 
battle ship; give her but a beam with its 
wooden tooth, and she turns out the patent 
plough. She is not j^mng, and when her 
friends insist upon the phenomena of youth, 
then is she least attractive. She can imi- 
tate the flush of the young cheek, but where 
is the flash of the young eye? She buys 
the teeth — alas ! she cannot buy the breath 
of childhood. The puny cathedral of 
Broadway, like an elephant dwindled to 
the size of a dog, measures her yearning 
for Gothic sublimity, while the roar of the 
Astor-house, and the mammoth vase of the 
great reservoir, shows how she works when 
she feels at home, and is in earnest. 

The mind of this country has never been 
seriously applied to the subject of build- 
ing. Inteutly engaged in matters of more 
pressing importance, we havo been con- 
tent to receive our notions of architecture 
as we have received the fashion of our 
garments, and the form of our entertain- 
ments, from Europe. In our eagerness to 
appropriate we have neglected to adapt, to 
distinguish — nay, to understand. We have 
built small Gothic temples, of wood, and 
have omitted all ornaments for economy, 
unmindful that size, material, and orna- 
ment are the elements of effect in that style 
of building. Captivated by the classic 
symmetry of the Athenial models, we have 
sought to bring the Parthenon into our 
streets, to make the temple of Theseus 
work in our towns. We have shorn them 
of their lateral colonnades, let them down 
from their dignified platform, pierced their 
walls for light, and, instead ot the storied 
relief and the eloquent statue which en- 
riched the frieze, and graced the pediment, 
we have made our chimney tops to peer 
over the broken profile, and tell by their 
rising smoke of the traffic and desecration 
of the interior. Still the model may be 
recognized, some of the architectural fea- 
tures are entire; like the captive king 
stripped alike of arms and purple, and 
drudging amid the Helots of a capital, the 
Greek temple as seen among us claims 
pity for its degraded majesty, and attests 
the barbarian force which lias abused its 
nature, and been blind to its qualities. 

If we trace architecture from its perfec- 
tion, in the days of Pericles, to its mani- 
fest decay in the reign of Constantine, we 
shall find that one of the surest symptoms 
of decline was the adoption of admired 
forms and models for purposes not com em- 
plated in their invention. The forum be- 
came a temple, the tribunal became a tem- 
ple, the theatre was turned into a church ; 
nay, the column, that organized member, 
that subordinate part, set up for itself, 
usurped unity, and was a monument! The 
great principles of architecture being once 



THE CEATO 3ST . 



abandoned, correctness gave way to novelty, 
economy and vain-glory associated pro- 
duced meanness and pretension. Sculp- 
ture, too, had waned. The degenerate 
workmen could no longer match the frag- 
ments they sought to mingle, nor copy the 
originals they only hoped to repeat. The 
mouldering remains of better days frowned 
contempt uoon such impotent efforts, till, 
in the gradual coming of darkness, igno- 
rance became content, and insensibility 
ceased to compare. 

We say that the mind of this country has 
never been seriously applied to architec- 
ture. True it is, that the commonwealth, 
with that desire of public magnificence 
which has ever been a leading feature of 
democracy, has called from the vasty deep 
of the past the spirits of the Greek, the 
Roman, and the Gothic styles; but they 
would not come when she did call to them ! 
The vast cathedral with its ever open 
portals, towering high above the courts of 
kings, inviting all men to its cool and fra- 
grant twilight, where the voice of the organ 
stirs the blood, and the dim-seen visions of 
saints and martyrs bleed and die upon the 
canvas amid the echoes of hymning voices 
and the clouds of frankincense, this archi- 
tectural embodying of the divine and bless- 
ed words, " Come to me, ye who labor 
and are heavy laden, and I will give you 
rest!" demands a sacrifice of what we hold 
dearest. Its corner-stone must be laid upon 
the right to judge the claims of the church. 
The style of Greek architecture as seen in 
the Greek temple, demands the aid of 
sculpture, insists upon every feature of its 
original organization, loses its harmony if 
a note be dropped in the execution, and 
when so modified as to serve for a custom- 
house or a bank, departs from its original 
beauty and propriety as widely as the 
crippled gelding of a hackney coach differs 
from the bounding and neighing wild horse 
of the desert. Even where, in the fervor 
of our faith in shapes, we have sternly ad- 
hered to the dictum of another age, and 
have actually succeeded in securing the en- 
tire exterior which echoes the forms of 
Athens, the pile stands a stranger among 
us ! and receives a respect akin to what we 
should feel for a fellow-citizen in the garb 
of Greece. It is a make-believe ! It is not 
the real thing! ¥e see the marble capi- 
tals; we trace the acanthus leaves of a 
celebrated model — incredulous odi! It is 
not a temple. 

The number and variety of our experi- 
ments in building show the dissatisfaction 
of the public taste with what has been 
hitherto achieved; the expense at which 
they have been made proves how strong is 
the yearning after excellence ; the talents 
and acquirements of the artists whose ser- 
vices have been engaged in them are such 
as to convince ns that the fault lies in the 
system, not in the men. Is it possible that 
out of this chaos order can arise ? that of 
these conflicting dialects and jargons a lan- 
guage can be born ? When shall we have 
done with experiments? "What refuge is 
there from the absurdities that have suc- 
cessively usurped the name and functions 
of architecture? Is it not better to go on 
with consistency and uniformity in imita- 
tion of an admired model than incur the 
disgrace of other failures ? In answering 
these questions, let us remember with hu- 
mility that all salutary changes are the 



work of many and of time ; but let us en- 
courage experiment at the risk of license, 
rather thau submit to an iron rule that be- 
gins by sacrificing reason, dignity and com- 
fort. Let us consult nature, and in the as- 
surance that she will disclose a mine, richer 
than was ever dreamed of by the Greeks, 
in art as well as in philosophy. Let us re- 
gard as ingratitude to the author of nature 
the despondent idleness that sits down 
while one want is unprovided for, one 
worthy object unattained. 

If, as the first step in our search after the 
great principles of construction, we but 
observe the skeletons and skins of animals, 
through all the varieties of beast and bird, 
of fish and insect, are we not as forcibly 
struck by their variety as by their beauty ? 
There is no arbitrary law of proportion, no 
unbending model of form. There is scarce 
a part of the animal organization which we 
do not find elongated or shortened, in- 
creased, diminished, or suppressed, as the 
wants of the genus or species dictate, as 
their exposure or their work may require. 
The neck of the swan and that of the 
eagle, however different in character and 
proportion, equally charm the eye and sa- 
tisfy the reason. "We approve the length 
of the same member in grazing animals, its 
shortness in beasts of pray. The horse's 
shanks are thin, and we admire them ; the 
greyhound's chest is deep, and we cry beau- 
tiful! It is neither the presence nor the 
absence of this or that part or shape or 
color that wins our eye in natural objects ; 
it is the consistency and harmony of the 
parts juxtaposed, the subordination of de- 
tails to masses, and of masses to the whole. 

The law of adaptation is the fundamen- 
tal law of nature in all structure. So un- 
flinchingly does she modify a type in 
accordance with a new position, that 
some philosophers have declared a va- 
riety of appearance to ' be the object 
aimed at; so entirely does she limit the 
modification to the demands of necessity, 
that adherence to one original plan seems, 
to limited intelligence, to be carried to the 
very verge of caprice. The domination of 
arbitrary rules of taste has produced the 
very counterpart of the wisdom thus dis- 
played in every object around us ; we tie 
up the cameleopard to the rack ; we shave 
the lion, and call him a dog ; we strive to 
bind the unicorn with his band in the fur- 
row, and to make him harrow the valleys 
after us ! 

When the savage of the South Sea 
Islands shapes his war club, his first thought 
is of its use. His first efforts pare the long 
shaft, ao"l mould the convenient handle ; 
then the heavier end takes gradually the 
edge that cuts, while it retains the weight 
that stuns. His idler hour divides its sur- 
face by lines and curves, or embosses it with 
figures that have pleased his eye, or are 
linked with his superstition. We admire 
its effective shape, its Etruscan-like quaint- 
ness, its graceful form and subtle outline, 
yet we neglect the lesson it might teach. 
If we compare the form of a newly- 
invented machine with the perfected type 
of the same instrument, we observe, as we 
trace it through the phases of improvement, 
how weight is shaken off where strength is 
less needed, how functions are made to ap- 
proach without impeding each other, how 
the straight becomes curved, and the curve 
is straightened, till the straggling and cum- 



bersome machine becomes the compact,*- 
effective and beautiful engine. 

So instinctive is the perception of organ- 
ic beauty in the human eye, that wo can- 
not withhold our admiration even from the 1 
organs of destruction. There is majesty 
in the royal paw of the lion, music iti the 
motion of the brinded tiger ; we accord" 
our praise to the sword and the dagger,' 
and shudder out approval of the frightful 
aptitude of the ghastly guillotine. 

Conceiving destruction to be a normal' 
element of the system of nature equally^ 
with production, we have used the word 
beauty in connection with it. We have no 
objection to exchange it for the word cha-' 
racier, as indicating the mere adaptation of 
forms to functions, and would gladly sub- 
stitute the actual pretensions of our archi- 
tecture to the former, could we hope to 
secure the latter. 

Let ns now turn to a structure of our 
own, one which from its nature and uses 
commands us to reject authority, and we^ 
shall find the result of the manly , use x>£ 
plain good sense so like that of taste and 
genius too, as scarce to require a distinctive; 
title. Observe a ship at, sea! Mark the. 
majestic form of her hull as she rashes, 
through the water, observe the graceful 
bend of her body, the gentle transition froni 
round to flat, the grasp of her. keel, the leap 
of her bows, the symmetry and rich tra- 
cery of her spars and rigging, and those 
grand wind muscles, her sails! Behold an 
organization second only to that of an anfc 
mal, obedient as the horse, swift as the 
stag, and bearing the burden of a thousand; 
camels from pole to pole ! What Academy ; 
of Design, what research of connoisseur-i 
ship, what imitation of the Greeks pro-?, 
duced this marvel of construction ? Here! 
is the result of the study of man upon the ; 
great deep, where Nature spake of the laws 
of building, not in the feather and in the 
flower, but in the winds and waves, and he, 
bent all his mind to hear and to obey.. 
Could we carry into our civil architecture 
the responsibilities that weigh upon our, 
ship-building, we should ere long have edi-. 
tices as superior to the Parthenon for the 
purposes that we require, as the Constitu- 
tion or the Pennsylvania is to the galley 
of the Argonauts. Could our blunders on, 
terra-firma be put to the same dread test 
that those of shipbuilders are, little would, 
be now left to say on this subject. , ; , ... 

Instead of forcing the functions of every: 
sort of building into one general form, 
adopting an outward shape for the sake of: 
theeye or of association, without reference, 
to the inner distribution, let us begin from; 
the heart as a nucleus and work outward. 
The most convenient size and arrangement 
of the rooms that are to constitute the: 
building being fixed, the access of the light 
that may, of the air that must, be wanted; 
being provided for, we have the skeleton of 
our building. Nay, we have all excepting 
the dress. The connexion and order of 
parts, juxtaposed for convenience, cannot' 
fail to speak of their relation and uses. As- 
a group of idlers on the quay, if they grasp 
a rope to haul a vessel to the pier, are . 
united in harmonious action by the cord 
they seize, as the slowly yielding mass: 
forms a thorough bass to their livelier 
movement, so the unflinching adaptation 
of a building to its position and use gives, 



226 



THE OEAYON. 



as a sura product of that adaptation, cha- 
racter, and expression. 

What a field of study would be opened 
by the adoption in civil architecture of those 
laws of apportionment, distribution and 
connexion, which we have thus hinted at? 
No longer could the mere tyro huddle to- 
gether a crowd of ill-arranged, ill-lighted 
and stifled rooms, and masking the chaos 
with the sneaking copy of a Greek facade, 
usurp the name of architect. If this ana- 
tomic connexion and proportion has been 
attained in ships, in machines, and, in spite 
of false principles, in such buildings, as 
make a departure from it fatal, as in bridges 
and in scaffolding, why should we fear its 
immediate use in all construction ? As its 
first result, the bank would have the phy- 
siognomy of a bank, the church would be 
recognized as such, nor would the billiard- 
room and the chapel wear the same uni- 
form of columns and pediment. The Afri- 
can king standing in mock majesty with his 
legs and feet bare, and his body clothed in 
a cast coat of the Prince Regent, is an ob- 
ject whose ridiculous effect defies all power 
of face. Is not, the Greek temple jammed 
in between the brick shops of "Wall street 
or Oornhill,- covered with lettered signs, 
and finished by groups of money changers 
and apple-women, a parallel even for his 
African Majesty? 

We have before us a letter in which Mr. 
Jefferson recommends the model of the 
Maison Carrie for the State House at 
Richmond. Was he aware that the Maison 
Garree is but a fragment, and that, too, of 
. a Roman temple ? He was. It is beauti- 
) ful! — is the answer. An English society 
I erected in Hyde Park a cast in bronze of 
I the colossal Achilles of the Qnirinal, and 
j changing the head, transformed it into a 
J inonument to Wellington. Buc where is the 
distinction between the personal prowess, 
the invulnerable body, the heaven-shielded 
safety of the hero of the Iliad, and the 
complex of qualities which makes the mo- 
dern general ? The statue is beautiful .'—is 
the answer. If such reasoning is to hold, 
/ why not translate one of Pindar's odes in 
■ memory of Washington, or set up in Caro- 
\ lina a colossal Osiris in honor of General 
v. Greene ? 

The monuments of Egypt and of Greece 
are sublime as expressions of their power 
and their feeling. The modern nation that 
appropriates them displays only wealth in 
so doing. The possession of means, not 
accompanied by the sense of propriety or 
feeling for the true, can do no more for a 
nation than it can do for an individual. 
The want of an illustrious ancestry may be 
compensated, fully compensated; but the 
purloining of the coat of arms of a defunct 
family, is intolerable. That such a monu- 
ment as we have described should have 
been erected in London when Chantry 
flourished, when Flaxinan's fame was che- 
rished by the few, and Bailey and Behnes 
were already known, is an instructive fact. 
That the illustrator of the Greek poets, and 
of the Lord's Prayer, should in the mean- 
while have been preparing designs for 
George the Fourth's silversmiths, is not 
less so. 

The edifices, in whose construction the 
principles of architecture are developed 
may be classed as organic, formed to meet 
the wants of their occupants, or monu- 
mental, addressed to the sympathies, the 



faith or the taste of a people. These two 
great classes of buildings, embracing almost 
every variety of structure, though occa- 
sionally joined and mixed in the same edi- 
fice, have their separate rules, as they have 
a distinct abstract nature. In the former 
class, the laws of structure and apportion- 
ment, depending on definite wants, obey a 
demonstrable rule. They may be called 
machines, each individual of which must 
be formed with reference to the abstract 
type of its species. The individuals of the 
latter class, bound by no other laws than 
those of the sentiment which inspires them, 
and the sympathies to which they are ad- 
dressed, occupy the positions and assume 
the forms best calculated to render their 
parent feeling. No limits can be put to 
their variety ; their size and their richness 
have always been proportioned to the 
means of the people who have erected 
them. 

If from what has been thus far said 
it shall have appeared that we regard the 
Greek masters as aught less than the true 
apostles of correct taste in building, we 
have been misunderstood. We believe 
firmly and fully that they can teach us ; but 
let us learn principles, not copy shapes ; let 
us imitate them like men, and not ape them 
like monkeys/ Remembering what a school 
of Art it was that perfected their system of 
ornament, let us rather adhere to that sys- 
tem in enriching what we invent than sub- 
stitute novelty for propriety./ After ob- 
serving the innovations of the ancient Ro- 
mans, and of the modern Italian masters in 
this department, we cannot but recur to 
the Horatian precept — 

" exemplaria Graaoa 
Nocturna versate manu, versate diurna V* 

To conclude. The fundamental laws of 
building found at the basis of every style of 
architecture, must be the basis of ours. 
The adaptation of the forms and magnitude 
of structures to the climate they are ex- 
posed to, and the offices for which they are 
intended, teaches us to study our own va- 
ried wants in these respects. The har- 
mony of their ornaments with the nature 
that they embellished and the institutions 
from which they sprang, calls on us to do 
the like justice to our country, our govern- 
ment, and our faith. As a Christian 
preacher may give weight to truth, and 
add persuasion to proof, by-studying the 
models of pagan writers, so the American 
builder, by a truly philosophic investigation 
of ancient Art. will learn of the Greeks to 
be American. 

The system of building we have hinted 
at cannot be formed in a day. It requires 
all the science of any country to ascertain 
and fix the proportions and arrangements of 
the members of a great building, to plant it 
safely on the soil, to defend it from the ele- 
ments, to- add the grace and poetry of or- 
nament to its frame. Each of these requi- 
sites to a good building requires a special 
study and a life-time. Whether we are 
destined soon to see so noble a fruit, may 
be doubted ; but we can, at least, break the 
ground and throw in the seed. 

We are fully aware that many regard all 
matters of taste as matters - of pure caprice 
and fashion. We are aware that many 
think our architecture already perfect ; but 
we have chosen, during this sultry weather, 
to exercise a truly American right — the 



right of talking. This privilege, thank 
God ! is unquestioned — from Miller, who, 
robbing B6ranger, translates into fanatical 
prose, " Finissons en ! le monde est assez 
vieux !" to Brisbane, who declares that 
the same world has yet to begin, and waits 
a subscription of two hundred thousand 
dollars in order to start. Each man is free 
to present his notions on any subject. We 
have also talked, firm in the belief that the 
development of a nation's taste in Art de- 
pends on a thousand deep-seated influences 
beyond the ken of the ignorant present ; 
firm in the belief that freedom and know- 
ledge will bear the fruit of refinement and 
beauty, we have yet dared to utter a few 
words of discontent, a few crude thoughts 
of what might be, and we feel the better 
for it. We promised ourselves nothing 
more than that satisfaction which Major 
Downing attributes to every man "who 
has had his say, and then cleared out," and 
we already perceive pleasingly what he 
meant by it. 

^nratio ©Mtitmijrf). 



EARLY EEKAISSANCE AECHITECTTTEE. 
(From Stones of Venice.) 

The date at which this corrupt form of 
Gothic first prevailed over the early sim- 
plicity of the Venetian types, can be de- 
termined in an instant, on the steps of the 
choir of the church of St. John and Paul. 
On our left hand, as we enter, is the tomb 
of Doge Marco Cornaro, who died in 1367. 
It is rich and fully developed Gothic, with 
crockets and finials, but not yet attaining 
any extravagant development. Opposite to 
it is that of the Doge Andrea Morosini, 
who died in 1382. Its Gothic is voluptuous 
and overwrought; the crockets are bold 
and florid, and the enormous finial repre- 
sents a statue of St. Michael. There is no 
excuse for the antiquaries who, having this 
tomb before them, could have attributed 
the severe architecture of the Ducal palace 
to a later date ; for every one of the Re- 
naissance errors is here in complete develop- 
ment, though not so grossly as entirely to 
destroy the loveliness of the Gothic forms. 
In the Porta della Carta, 1423, the vice 
reaches its climax. 

Against this degraded Gothic, then, came 
up the Renaissance armies ; and their first 
assault was in the requirement of univer- 
sal perfection. For the first time, since the 
destruction of Rome, the world had seen, 
in the works of the greatest artists of the 
fifteenth century, in the painting of Ghirl- 
andajo, Massaccio, Fraucia, Perugino Pin- 
turicchio, and Bellini, in the sculpture of 
Mino da Fiesole, of Ghiberti, and Veroc- 
chio, — a perfection of execution, and full- 
ness of knowledge which cast all previous 
art into the shade, and which being in the 
work of those men, united with all that was 
great in that of former days, did indeed 
justify the utmost enthusiasm with which 
their efforts were, or could be, regarded. 
But when this perfection had once been 
exhibited in anything, it was required in 
everything ; the world could no longer be 
satisfied with less exquisite execution, or 
less disciplined knowledge. The first thing 
that it demanded in all work was, that it 
should be done in a consummate and learned 
way, and men altogether forgotjthat it was 
possible to consummate what was contempt